My first driving experince in the US of A

With none of my friends owning a car and my laziness in not bringing an IDP my hopes of driving had been put off till date. But with the willingness of the car rental co to rent on an Desi license they were re-kindled for my good! I booked an economy car along with a couple of friends on the weekend, but to our delightful surprise the car co offered us an upgrade to a Chrysler Sebring Convertible.

The plan was to drive to Austin to get some practice. I was hoping to drive the car on some length of the trip. But this hope was quickly dozed off with a few panicky incidents that happened at the start of the trip - created by my fellow renter who too was new to driving. Seeing his plight my my heart was in my mouth and what was to be a pleasurable driving experience now started to seem a distant dream or even worst a horrible nightmare. I abandoned the idea of taking to the wheel on my very first outing and the only thing that came to my mind was whether we'll reach home safely in all this mess.

Thankfully the second half of the journey was very stable. Despite the amazing experience Austin sights were I returned to College Stn sore having not driven for the entire day. However I was determined to get some practice and at around 10 pm asked my friend Monish to accompany & guide me. With him by my side I started on the University drive and was hoping to drive around the airport in mild traffic. However we missed an exit and were quickly on a Highway of 60 mph - the very thing i dreaded till this moment. So I had to skin out all my my driving skills to wiggle out some fast lane change maneuver and take an U in the middle of the highway. That worked well and my confidence was a few notches higher. So we drove around the airport and started towards the riverside following Monishs' friends. The next plan was to reach Walmart. Here unknowingly Monish asked me to take a right when we shud have taken a left and again we were on a Freeway- this time to Houston - with no way out. Drove on it for 20 miles before We found a provision for a U turn. With more that 50 miles of highway driving under my belt within a hour I was rearing to drive with confidence. Thanks to Monish and his goof-ups while navigating I spent the next two days driving with confidence around the Brazos valley.

NB: Chrysler convertible was fun to drive. With the roof folded down and the breeze .......... driving was a pleasure. We had a lot of girls waving at us from time to time. But after 2 days the fun was over. On the high speed US highways I feel its totally unsafe driving with a soft top and the roof down. Also the two door concept is a pain in the neck. So now "CONVERTIBLES" & "2 DOORS" are a NO NO.

Pink Panther!

Its hard to come across an uproriously funny movie nowadays and that too when you prefer veggie! Last hilarious movie i recall watching is Scary Movie III, but though the humour in it is awesome you should be ready to sit through the steamy scenes and raunchy dialogues in this spoof. Pink Panther on the other hand classifies as a "pure veg" even if you happen to be a Gujju or Jain for that matter - not even an ounce of Onion!

Pink panther is a out n out comedy about a cop who till now carried the tag of "Stupidest cop in France" - but now he is put on the trail of a perpetrator who happens to murder the beloved French soccer coach. The deal is to put the nation, media and observers on the back of this Funny stupid little cop while the Police chief himself tries to solve the case - in an effort to win national accolades.

What follows is a series of stomach acheing comic events which make you cry as you try to control your laughter. The movie is nothing but "MUST C"

Toyota Matrix - Hell NO!

Selecting a perfect car to suite your needs as well as tastes must be such a huge pain in the neck. I am nowhere close to purchasing a car but as I peek into my future and see myself confounded with serious conundrum. Starting with what genes: Should I go patriotic [now don’t take that literally] and choose one from the American Big 3, or the frugal and reliable Japanese or arrive at a compromise with the value loaded Koreans? Should I go sporty with a 2 door config or the 4 door family car, Silver / Black or Red/ Well equipped or Stripped / Hybrid or conventional ........if I go on listing my concerns it will be a never ending roster. If you have begun to think that what follows is a "Car buyers guide to the perfect match", you are reading the wrong post. This post is not about car selection, it’s about a car that is a perfect NO NO!

The car in question is the Toyota Matrix hatchback. The car has everything wrong going for it - starting with its name. Come on, Matrix cannot be a car name at best it can be a desktop or laptop model name or may be some game cube or something. Matrix represents something very digital, very complex, very rigid and something very artificial- and is a clear misfit name for something as simple and fun as a car.

The cockpit is very clumsy and plasticy making your mood very sober the moment you assume seat. Your worst fears come true during the night when you stare down at bright red lettered switches and controls. The only thing that comes to mind staring at the dashboard is red burning coal in pitch darkness.

A drive for a couple of hours in this vehicle has given me a very important criteria for car selection - Tire noise! Inside this car you don't hear the engine, you don’t hear the traffic, you don’t hear the wind BUT you don't hear the stereo either- because the most predominant noise is the tire noise. The purpose of the tires in an automobile is the isolation of shocks and vibrations, but here the tires are the most vociferous correspondent between the road and you.

Another important phenomenon you experience in this car is Kinetosis i.e motion sickness - Cleary a case of wrongly tuned ride frequency of the vehicle. I enjoy road trips thoroughly, but in this car I was struggling to keep awake. So was the case with some fellow passengers. God save the driver.

No wonder that the Matrix is one of Toyotas poorest selling vehicle. One car certainly you can keep off your buying list.

My Big-Fat Italian celebration!

Some occasions in life are rare ones and deserve a celebration. Italian world cup victory was one such moment for me.
My Victory cake:
The choice of this cake of all the varieties available (especially my favourite - chocolate) was the Italian tri colour it represents. A bit of thought - lettering it with Azzurri color and the ornation was complete.

Soccer Diaries: V

Final: Italy vs France

12 years of expectations, 12 years of Italian cycle of WC final reappearance, 120 minutes of game and it all boils down to that one moment! One moment that can cause extreme agony - one moment that can cause extreme joy. Roberto Baggio missed it in '94 evoking mourful tears but Fabio Grosso more than made it up for me as he crashed the ball into the far right corner today!

The WC final game was a very close one for my comfort - it shouldnt have been had the Italians had a bit of luck going in their favour. The penalty call against them was a very close one with most commentators agreeing that Malouda had dived, they had a Materaazi header rebounding from the cross bar and a goal being called off-side , again a 50-50 decision. Had things been going their way it shouldnt have been such a close match.

I feel happy for the Italians as this game means a lot to Italian soccer which has been marred by unfortunate events in the recent past. I feel happy for Cannavaro who stood as a rock with the inexperienced defenders in the absence of Nesta, I feel happy for Buffon who was a wall to breach, I feel happy for Hard working Pirlo who toiled relentlessly and I feel happy for Totti my demi god whose skills are miles apart from the rest. A world cup win is a fitting farewell to Totti and Del Piero appearing in the last WC.

I can hardly express my joy after this victory as I pen it down because my words fail to stretch this feeling to where my mind is gliding right now.

(more on the this later as the celebrations have just started)

Soccer Diaries: IV

Germany vs Portugal!
A well deserved win for Germany. The two canon shots from Schweinsteiger were outstanding, a pleasure to watch. And what a comeback for Kahn , captaining the side.
One has to question the way the Portugese play , who picked up 24 yellow cards to set a all time world cup record.

Funny observation: During the match the camera zoomed in on Michael Schumaker &
Commentator I: (after a long pause trying to fig out who he is) There is the German manager, obviously his next task is to convince Klinsman to stay upto Euro '08.
.......camera rolls on............after a short pause
Commentator I: My apologies as that was Formula one race driver Michael schumaker.
Commentator II: I dont know if its some race driver but he is certainly not the German manager.

So apathetic is the situation of American sports commentators of not being able to recognise champions from other sports. But isn't that the story of entire US - not knowing the affairs beyond their shell.

Soccer Diaries: III

Semi final I- Italy vs Germany!!

One of the most exciting match I have watched in a long long time! And to say that the result made me Euphoric would be an understatement. Being a huge Italian fan, for over last 15 years the victory was sweeter than honey. The teams were very evenly matched untill the 90th minute after which the balance tilted in favour of the Azzuri! Italians were unlucky as they had two shots recocheting from the post in the first two minutes of the extra time. However a goal there would have fired up the germans and given them a chance to come back into the game.

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The Italian game in the extra time was very unlike Italian and it was thrilling for a change. For a team that plays with one forward - playing with 3 forwards and 2 playmekers was very unlike themselves but very cool. It showed their desperation of not entering the Penalties where fate has never been with them - and it paid off. The germans on the other hand seemed to be taking the game to PKs riding on the success of Lehmann in the previous game. Amazing play from the set pieces in the dying game created what can be considered one of the best goal of the tournament for the Italians!

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One interesting reaction amongst friends and media I observe is of Shock / Upset!! Clearly people didn't seem to have done their research as the result wasn't totally unexpected for me. Now consider these facts and you'll see for yourself!

1) Germany had the home support going for them and recent form.

BUT

2) Italy hasn't lost a match since October 2004

3)In head to head record with Germany Italy is way ahead of Germany with 13 wins.

4) Germany has never beaten Italy in a World cup match

5) Geramany has last beaten a European team in 2000 when they beat England to win a major tourney!

6) Italy are yet to concede a goal in this world cup except an OWN goal.

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Italy played bravely in the match went out of their way , tried new things and now they seem to be on a roll. If the Ultimate glory beckons them , only time will tell.

India - Windies Conspiracy Theory!

Can a team go into a decisive Test match of a series with 3 specialist bowlers, and be confident of taking 20 opposition wickets? The windies just did!

On a very bowler friendly doctored pitch you can do that! But how did the windies know that the pitch was to behave so? Obviously the pitch must have been doctored based on the request of Lara & the Windies team management, given the fact that the Indians have had the upper hand in the just concluded series and the windies bowlers struggled throughout! So the Windies enter the match with 7 specialist batsman, one wicket keeper and 3 specialist bowlers

Evidently , for the Indians Ignorance proved to be a bliss! There is nothing that seven batsman can do on a bowling pitch that 6 cannot! So the additional bowler gave a lethal force to the Indians which enable the them to bowl out windies for a paltry 103 in first innings!

Great Victory for India as they conquer a huge frontier and add another jewel in their crown!

Soccer Diaries : II

Expectations are high from the English team, nothing new, they always are! In this soccer crazy nation there is always a hype when the world cup arrives - this English team can do it! But that was not to be - The english are eliminated and in traditional fashion - going a man down for a STUPID tackle / argument / bickering, and then suffering the misery!

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The england portugal match was expected to be exciting, especially because the teams were so evenly matched considering their past head to head record! The match lasted 120 minutes - personally i love the additional soccer as it gives more action (recall the germany argentina match yesterday) but today i was praying for the extra time to end ASAP! Both teams going with a defensive 4-5-1 combination to play it safe and were more than content in keeping possesion. With this ploy the strikers are frustrated as the ball seldom reaches them, and Rooney made it evident. His puerile foul of stamping on the opponent earned him a red card and virtually eliminated any english chances of scoring goals! To me , Wayne rooney , is the face od English soccer - he epitomises the hooligans on the field with his aggressive attitude and short temper. English would have been much better had they played fluent fluid soccer as they played in the dying moments of the match. The second part of extra time truly represented the true potential of this English team when they thoroughly tested the Portugese despite being a man down!

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Going into the penalties, they were clearly at a disadvantage as a "dehydrated" Beckham was substituted, rooney carded and Owen injured!

Frank Lampard missed the first English penalty - that pretty much sums up his world cup - a very sorry one for him. 23 shots, at least half of them from close range, from this chelsea midfielder in the tournament and none of them converted.

Full marks to Ricardo for getting a hand on all 4 penalties and saving 3 of them. As for Robinson the English keeper, England can boast that he is the youngest to play in WC, but if he is their best, I guess that is not sufficient. The top teams in the world have very high quality keepers who can win matches for their teams - and English soccer needs one such keeper!

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France get the better of Brazil!

It was a day of upsets and the biggest and the best came from France as they knocked off the defending champions! I had mentioned in my previous post that France can and Yes they did! ZiZo showed what he can do when he is on the brink of his career!

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